Filenews 15 January 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
A place in what has happened in recent days in Paphos regarding the deletion of graffiti works of internationally known artists from Paphos venues, took the Arts Center Of Kimon. It is the body that had the initiative and responsibility for the organization of the Street Art Square festival, in which these, and already deleted graffiti, were created, but also all the others that decorate the center of Paphos.
The deletion of these works, they point out, is apparently only the tip of the iceberg, since the deposit left in the city by the Organisation for the Cultural Capital of Europe is declining day by day.
The artist Giannis Sakellis, stresses on behalf of the Kimon Arts Center, that as curator of this event, together with the artistic team of "Paphos 2017", after choosing some important surfaces, in central buildings of the city, they obtained the necessary permission to proceed with the project, both by the owners and by the Municipality of Paphos, since the works would affect the urban landscape. Moreover, the very purpose of the festival was to enrich the city centre aesthetically, contributing to the general regeneration that was taking place at the time, he points out.
"In the same context, artists from Cyprus, Greece and abroad were selected and it is worth noting that all creators participated either by receiving a symbolic fee or without any financial benefit," he stresses. "It is particularly important, and we stress this, that all the surfaces selected, for graffiti, were already preserved before the arrival of the artists, so that they are in good condition and can accommodate the works.
In order to focus, now, on the two projects under discussion and already destroyed, we must also mention that Milo's mural was created with official sponsorship of the Italian Embassy in Cyprus and the MEATS mural sponsored by the Swiss cultural organization PROhelvetia. Let us also point out that the Italian Ambassador himself took a tour of these areas to see up close the projects that had emerged. Having said that, we believe that the timing of the creation and the completely transparent and legal procedures followed, in terms of obtaining the permits, have been made clear by both the owners and the public bodies, i.e. the Municipality of Paphos itself".
On the occasion of the destruction of the two graffiti, the Kimon Arts Centre expresses concern about what appears to be indifference, as it says, on the part of the Municipality regarding the deposit left behind by the European Capital of Culture Paphos 2017.
"This is what we fear is also expressed by the absence, even today, four years after the Capital of Culture, of an organisation responsible for the maintenance but also the exploitation and further enrichment of that legacy – for which the Capital of Culture has given the Municipality a significant amount of money," he concludes.
